Pepsi Stinson SR-7 at Vintage Aircraft Circle

For more than a little while, vintage aircraft enthusiasts have watched with bated breath as Garry and Janne Ackerman’s Stinson SR-7B restoration shaped up at RARE Aircraft. They bought the Stinson as a project in October, 2011, it quickly became apparent the project was more than the two could handle – the Stinson is a large aircraft for a four-seater, tipping the scales at 2,617 pounds empty, which is about what many four-seat general aviation aircraft gross out, fully loaded. Nothing about it is small, including the documentation the Ackermans had to wade through, including 18 reels of 35mm microfilm, each reel stretching out 100 feet long.

Stinson NC3040 was the first production Stinson Gullwing which would be enough fame for most any flying machine. Their particular Stinson had lived something of a higher-profile existence, having been owned through the late 1930s by Pepsi Cola, and it had been painted up with the company logo for publicity work. Through the 1950s and 1960s, the airplane grew derelict and was parked.

The Ackermans turned to RARE Aircraft in Faribault, MN to take on the work, and that they did. RARE Aircraft is noted as a Stearman and WACO restoration shop, whose wood and fabric work is well known in the community. On July 12, the freshly restored Stinson took its first flight in almost 70 years, following four years of work by RARE Aircraft and the preceding work by the Ackermans. The restoration is well-researched and incorporates tasteful updates, such as avionics and safety improvements, to make the Stinson more easily handled in today’s environment.

While the Ackermans haven’t flown their plane yet, the test/ferry pilot reported that it cruised at about 140 MPH and landed at 48 MPH. They plan to keep the plane about a decade as custodians before passing it along to the next of its caretakers.